A cold wet Tuesday morning at Marlene’s home in Wootton was enjoyed by us all over a coffee tea and two very nice cakes. We talked about WI meeting, craft club, and the outing to our Christmas dinner and much more.
Members are always welcome to come along to these enjoyable tea and chats at members homes. It gives us all time to chat and get to know other ladies from our Local WI and put the world to right over a cuppa.

To mark the centenary of the Armistice a poppy wreath was placed at the Wootton War Memorial on behalf of the members of Creekside WI. A service of remembrance took place at St Mark’s in Station Road and then the congregation led by scouts, guides and brownies made their way to St Edmund’s for the last post, the two minutes silence and the wreath laying. A variety of community groups as well as individuals and families laid wreaths and other tributes to the fallen.

On a beautiful autumn day four members from Creekside WI arrived at the Rookley Community Hall for an afternoon of fun. After a short reminder of the rules we were off. Dice shaking was short and speedily passed to the next player, full concentration was essential. With just enough time to draw beetle parts the dice was back round the table to be shaken again. The pace was frantic! Winning couples changed tables and one of the losers moved round one seat. After the first twelve games it was time for tea and of course cake. Off we went again. When all the games had been played scores were added up and a winner was declared. Congratulations!

Thank you for the invitation Rookley WI, we had the opportunity to meet members from other WIs and had a very exciting afternoon.Report by C Downie

A road trip tale in which Nancy Skidmore, who has Alzheimers is rescued by her friend Eugene Chaney lll, from the care home in which she has been placed. He fulfils the promise he made years before to help her die before her condition becomes unmanageable. This involves a road trip with a collection of different characters. Thoughts about this book were fairly unanimous. It was a ‘wordy’ read that at first didn’t seem to be going anywhere but as the story developed and the characters were drawn together, it improved. There were funny parts and a good build up of tension. Relationships and characters were described in minute detail but name changes caused confusion. It provided a window into the fear in which black people lived in the southern states, the intrigue involved in trying remain invisible from the CIA and the downward spiral of living with Alzheimers. Scoring the book was surprisingly varied, from four to eight out of ten. Tea and biscuits anyone?

Brading and Haylands WI came to Creekside for a Kurling challenge. Players built up their stamina enjoying a tasty cottage pie followed by lemon meringue pie or apple crumble/pie with ice cream or custard. Chairs were pushed back and tables removed and the competition began. All players were very good sports, clapping successes made by both teams and cheering when the opposition were knocked off the bull. Dorothy even had to get her tape measure out to check a result! Tea at half time injected a bit more energy until red team clinched it. Thank you everyone who worked so hard to make the evening such a success especially Jenny Gaches for her extra yummy cottage pies and light and lemony meringues.

Totland to Alum Bay – 2 miles

Six ladies made their way to Totland by bus, sitting upstairs to enjoy the views. We got off at the War Memorial bus stop along Broadway, crossed over and made our way down Madeira Road to Cliff Road. The grass was being cut on the Turf Walk. We continued on until we turned right to take footpath T16 up on to Headon Warren.

The weather was murky and so were the views. Unfortunately, we were too late for a display of heather – just the odd bit was in bloom here and there. There was some gorse in bloom. Rio explained that it was dwarf gorse as common gorse does not bloom at this time of year. A fellow member of the Natural History Society had informed Rio of this when on Headon Warren in September. Raindrops on a web were also observed.

At the Alum Bay end of Headon Warren, the path split. Wendy led the group straight on but this path had eroded in places and there sheer drops on the right and a not so sheer drop on the left. Neither Elizabeth or Rio liked the dizzy heights so they back-tracked to the path junction, where Rio led Elizabeth down the lower path. Rio and Elizabeth waited on a grassed area for a few minutes but the other four could not be seen or heard. Elizabeth thought they were already at Alum Bay so Elizabeth and Rio went to Alum Bay. They looked in shops, the cafe, the bar but there was no sign of them. By now, it was drizzling so shelter was taken by the 4D film entrance. Rio believed that the others were still making their way down and texted Mary to say that Elizabeth and her were by the 4D film entrance at Alum Bay.

A woman tells of the creeping breakdown of society through the dissection of families, removal of children, filing people into colours and types of uniform. The joining of the Wife and the Handmaid in the act of procreation eliminates any love. The cold and deliberate way people are directed not to talk and look at each other….’salvaged’….eliminating trust. You ask the question ‘Could it happen now?’
The comparison between past and present make her tale even more desperate and poignent. The clean almost emotionless way of telling the story reflects the killing of individuality and feeling that those in charge want; a regimented, paternalistic society. The atmosphere is cold and grey. The threat of the Wall is always there. The unfamiliar titles for shops, position in the hierarchy and the intertwining of Christian based morals, however manipulated, adds to a feeling of hopelessness. The horror of the Prayvaganza reminds you that however civilised people think they are, they can soon become part of a baying mob with no feeling or empathy with the victim, simply preservation of self.
The Historical notes create the most disturbing feelings of all….that those in the future can look back, having escaped the horrors of the particular society they are viewing through the words of someone who had to suffer what was imposed on him/her and in the end may have been punished for what? It has happened in our history.
The reader is gripped from beginning to end by this disturbing and thought provoking book. Totally believable.Cheryl Downie

Another lively afternoon for Creekside WI members. There was friendly banter, skill-full knock offs and a close win. Tea and biscuits at half time greased the stones as the tables turned. The Red team won this time! Wait till the rematch when the blue team will give you a run for your money.

Five Creekside members travelled over to the bottom of Rew Street in Gurnard. Originally, Coastal Footpath CS16 followed the clifftop from the junction of Rew Street and Marsh Road but due to a landslip a few years ago, this section of the path was closed. However, a kindly landowner had agreed for a permissive path to cross a field from a bit further up Rew Street and join the Coastal Footpath a little further along. We followed this permissive path, joined the Coastal Footpath and started to make our way towards Thorness Bay. En route, we noticed there were the odd section that was getting close to the edge and further landslips may take the path in the near future. We also observed foliage and berries along the way: haws, sloes and we couldn’t resist picking and eating some of the blackberries.

Wendy recalled some old railway carriages that had been converted into residential properties and was asking Rio if she knew where they were. Rio said that they were further along, closer to Thorness and to the north of Sticelett Farm. Wendy thought that there were others before those but Rio didn’t know about these as she doesn’t walk this path very often. We did come to the converted carriages near Thorness and we admired their gardens as well as the décor of the carriages themselves.

Wendy wanted to find a particular flower, galega, so we scouted around a bit for this. We did find it and after doing so, we made our way over stiles and across a couple of fields up to Sticelett Farm on footpath CB1. To Rio’s relief, the cattle were elsewhere and we paused to admire the view at the top of the upper field, before the path went between hedgerows. We crossed over the track that goes into Sticelett Farm, continued on ahead to the top end of Rew Street on footpath CS3.

From the Hillis Corner end of Rew Street, we made our way along the lane back to the cars at the Gurnard end. En route, Rio paused to look at the roadside pond about halfway along. A bit further along, a wood carving of an owl was observed in a garden. Rio later plotted the route on Tracklogs and found it to be 3.6 miles.

Wendy, Elizabeth, Mary and Margaret had lunch at Wootton Methodist Church hall afterwards. Rio went home.

July’s ramble

Mary had requested that the walk be postponed until the fourth Wednesday. It was therefore arranged that we’d meet in the usual place on 25 July. However, the walk was cancelled due to the excessive heat.

A super afternoon at Ann Parkers for an afternoon tea, to raise money for young female careers on the Isle of Wight.
20 ladies arrived on a windy afternoon in Wootton to enjoy a chat a cuppa with fruit and cheese scones being enjoyed by all. We raised £110.00 in all, I was so pleased in the generous donations by all who attended, thanks ladies, I enjoyed welcoming you all at my home.